Latch for vending machine doors



Jan. 14, 1947. R. BAKER, sR

LATCH FOR VENDING MACHINE DOORS Original Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR W 6'44", #5. MW

ATTORN EY Jan. 14, 1947. l BAKER, 5 2,414,350

LATCH FOR VENDING MACHINE DOORS Original Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 INVENTOR W flw 'k. WXM

ATTORNEY Jan. 14, 1-947. R. BAKER, sR 2,414,350

LATCH FOR VENDING MACHINE nooR Original Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR @W 16% 4.

ATTORNEY LATCH FOR VENDING MACHINE DOORS Original Filed Dec. 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCH FOR VENDING MACHINE DOORS Original application December 30, 1941, Serial No.

424,881, now Patent No. 2,365,995, dated Decemher 26, 1944.

Divided and this application January 11, 1944, Serial No. 517,783

4 Claims.

In my prior application for vending machines, I have described and broadly claimed a novel vending machine wherein novel means are employed to move all of the doors of a vending unit into locking position, and novel means for locking the doors.

My present invention, which is a division of my prior application, aforesaid, Serial No. 424,881, filed Dec. 30, 1941, patented Dec. 26, 1944, No. 2,365,995, relates more particularly to novel latching mechanism for the doors controlled by an attendant in rear of the vending machine to cause all of the doors of a unit to be moved into locking position without shock.

In one type of Vending machines used in the Automats, a bank of vending machines is built up of vending units, arranged side by side to form a continuous wall at a side of a room, and provided with vertically aligned, door controlled delivery openings. Each delivery opening has an individual locking mechanism. Each unit has an article carrier in the form of a rotatable drum having superimposed article receiving compartments, each of which has a combined receiving and delivery opening to register, when in vending position, with a door controlled opening.

Upon the insertion of a coin or coins of proper value into the coin mechanism for a selected compartment and the turning of the handle of its locking mechanism, the door is unlocked and permitted to swing open. Each door is provided with a latch so that. when raised, it will be retained in its raised position. The drum is provided with cams which are effective on rotation of the drum to reset the coin mechanism and lock the doors in their closed position. l

The present invention relates to a vending machine of this general character, and comprehends novel latching mechanism, and releasing mechanism therefor.

Other novel features of construction and advantage will hereinafter appear in the detailed description and the appended claims.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention,

I have shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof which I have found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results. It is, however, to be understood that this embodiment is typical only and the various instrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variously arranged and organized, and the invention is not limited to the exact arrangement and organization of these instrumen talities as herein set forth.

Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of a unit of a vending machine embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of an article carlleI'.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of an article carrier.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a door and its latch, the door being shown in its wide open position.

Figure 5 is a side elevation showing the door partially closed.

Figure 6 is a side elevation showing the door closed.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a slide bar and its adjuncts.

Figure 8 is a side elevation similar to Figure 7,

but showing the slide bar and its adjuncts in a different position from that seen in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a top plan view, showing, more particularly, means for securing the article carrier in vending position.

Figure 10 is a section on line l3lfl of Figure 7.

Figure 11 is a section on line I l| I of Figure 7.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings:

i designates the frame of a vending machine, embodying my invention.

The frame is provided with a row of superimposed and vertically aligned article delivery openings 2. Each row forms a unit of construction, and in practice a number of units are arranged side by side to form a continuous wall. Each opening 2 is controlled by an individual door 3, pivotally connected at its upper end with the frame and arranged to move to its closed position by gravity. The doors have rollers 4 and have openings 5 in their bottoms to receive looking plungers. Each door 3 has one end of a latch i3 pivotally connected with it. Each latch has an L shaped slot 1, provided with a notch or open recess near the freeend of the latch, as at 8, to cooperate with a headed pin 9 fixed to a side Wall of a door frame. The bottom wall of the latch has an inclined wall 1!] which merges into a stop shoulder i I. The latches are controlled in a novel manner by studs l2 which extend through slots is in the frame with proper clearance for the raising and lowering of the studs. The studs i2 are fixed to a bar 84 which is slidable in guides i5 fixed to the frame. A handle E6 in the form of a lever is pivoted to a bracket I l fixed to the An' article carrier, in the form of a. drum, having superimposed article receiving compartments .of a door.

20, is rotatably mounted in the'frame so that combined receiving and delivery openings 2| in the drum will register with the door controlled delivery openings of the frame when the drum is in Vending position. The drum has a stop member "22 cooperating in a conventional .manner with the frame to limit the rotation of the drum.

The drum is locked in its vending position by a spring catch 23, cooperating with a handle 24 carried by the drum to turn it. The drum has on its outer periphery cams. 25, similar to those shown in the Cramer Patent No. 1,758,652 to cooperate with locking mechanism similar to that shown in said patent and in the Fritsche Patent No. 1,199,066 and Fritsche No. 1,039,508 to which reference is directed for a detailed description of the construction and operation .of such mechanism.

For the purpose of description, it is only necessary to state that the locking mechanism as shown in said patents has for each door a cam slide 26 which moves "the locking end of levers 2-"? .into :and out .of openings 28 in the bottom of a door frame and the openings in the bottom Each cam slide 26 is connected by a link 2Q with its respective, tensioned coin mechanism 3E9, which, whenreleased, swings laterally to move the cam slide in a direction to cause the unlocking of the door controlling the delivery opening, see Fritsche No. 1,039,508, page 2, line 102 to line 11, page 3. The opening movement of the door is facilitated by springs 3| having one end fixed to the door and their free end bearing against the door frame, see Cramer No. 1,995,083, page 2, lines 1 20 to 124. The cams 25 on the drum cooperate with cam members 62 of the coin mechanism to reset the coin mechanism and effect the locking of the doors when the drum is turned.

In order to simultaneously lock all of the doors of a unit, the drum has a cam 33 cooperating with a roller 3 on a locking bar 35 slidable in brackets 35 and 45 fixed to the frame. The looking bar is normally retained in its raised position by a spring 31, one end of which is fixed to the bar-and the other end to a fixed point such as a bracket 36. The locking bar has locking plungers 3S, offset intermediate their ends, and one for each door. The free ends of the locking plungers are bevelled and are adapted to pass into the openings 28 'in a door frame and the openings 5 in a door.

The upward movement of the locking bar is limited by a stop 39 on the bar engaging the guide bracket 46. The inward'movem'ents of the doors are limited by stops M3 on the door frame.

The coin mechanism has a lever M controlling a stop member t5 which in turn controls the passing of a coin through a coin chute into a .coin receiver.

viewed from the rear swings laterally and moves the cam slide in a direction to unlock the door.

"The door, "when'unlocked, swings partially open due to the action of the springs carried by it.

-The purchaser now raises the-door into substantially a horizontal "position and the notch in the 'ders H. of. the doors without shock. All of the-doors are 'now'in position to be fully closed by the turning positions. tops of the doors.

doors. and unlocked when the article carrier is turned position.

In order to place a fresh article in an empty compartment, it is necessary to turn the article .carrier from its vending position to the receiving position, and the doors must be releasedfrom their latches. In order to release the doors from their latches, the attendant in rear of the machine presses the handle lever IB downwardly, thus moving the bar l4 upwardly and causing the studs [2 to raise the free ends of the latches 6 upwardly so that the latches are released by the notches 8 passing above the pins 9.

The doors swing downwardly about half way, being stopped by the walls ill of the latches. The attendant now releases the handle lever 16, permitting the slide bar to drop; The studs l2 ride up over'the walls Hi and engage the shoul- This construction permits the closing of :the drum. The spring catch for'the article carrier is released and the article carrier is turned from its vending position into its receiving position. During this turning movement, the earns 42 on the article carrier acting against the rollers 4 move the doors into their locking The rollers 4 are positioned near the The cams 25 on the article carrier cooperate with the cam members *32 Iof the coin mechanisms reset the coin 'mechanisms and thereby actuate the cam slides 26 to effectithe locking of the doors. The locking "bar 35 is in its raised position except when it is lowered by the cam 33. When the vending drum is in vend ing pos'ition,'the roller '34 is bearing on the underside of the cam 33, but, as soon as the drum is turned, the roller drops off of the cam and the locking 'bar moves upwardly to look all of the This prevents the doors being released from its vending position. The latches are released without turning the vending drum.

Whenthe article carrier is in its vending position, the cams 25 engage the cam members '32 so that the stop members 45 of the coin mecha- 'nisms are moved out of the coin chutes "to perm'it the coins to pass into the coin receivers.

Having "thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. In a vending machine, a frame having"arti cle delivery openings, doors controlling'said openings, latches pivoted at one end to said doors and having slots with notches opening into the upper wall of a'slot at the inner ends of the slots at the free end of the latches, pins stationary on the frame and extending into the slots and received in the notches when the doors are raised to open position, a latch releasing member slidably mounted and having studs to engag'ethe free ends of the latches to raise such'free ends and release their notches from the pins, and means adapted to be actuated "by 'an attendant in rear of the machine to actuate said releasin member.

:2. In a, vending machine having an article delivery opening, a door controlling said opening and mounted to close when released, Ea *la'tch-to -reta'in said; door in open position, and having a cam face, and latch releasing-mechanismrhavirtg a stud on which the latch rides eiiective to release said latch, said stud when raised cooperating with the cam face to arrest the closing of the door when partially closed, and when lowered acting to release the latch to permit the door to move to closed position.

3. In a vending machine, a frame having superimposed article delivery openings, doors controlling said openings, latches pivoted at one end to said doors and having slots with notches opening into the slots at one end of the slots, pins on the frame extending into the slots and received in the notches when the doors are raised, a latch releasing member movably mounted on the frame and having studs to engage the latches to release their notches from the pins, said latches having stop walls cooperating with the studs to arrest downward movement of the doors when partially closed, and means to position said releasing memher to cause the studs to raise the latches to release their notches from the pins and thereafter when the doors are partially closed arrest down ward movement of the doors by engagement of the stop walls with the studs, said positioning means when released allowing said releasing member to drop to permit the stop Walls to pass beyond the studs and permit the final closing movements of the doors.

4. In a vending machine, a door frame having an opening through which an article can be removed, a door for said opening, a latch pivoted at one end to said door and having an L shaped slot with a notch, a pin fixed to the door frame and extending into the slot and when in the notch retaining the door in open position, said latch having an inclined stop wall at its bottom merging into a shoulder, and a, manually positionable member movable in one direction to raise the latch and release the pin from the notch and to thereafter arrest closing movement of the door by contact with said stop wall, and when moved in the opposite direction permitting the final closing movement of the door.

RAYMOND BAKER, SR. 

